November 2017

■ Natural Sciences / A river runs through it: galaxy behavior under environmental mechanisms Researchers used cosmological hydrodynamic simulations to show consistent behavior patterns in phase-space diagrams. Picture a river. Imagine it—the way the water flows, the way the ripples change when it contacts submerged rocks, the little eddies and whorls that happen near banks and channels. Now, drop a red ball into the river. How is it carried? Does it get caught on the bank? Submerged? Spun in an eddy? Now, picture the universe as a river with all its galaxies as little balls carried in it. In a much simplified version of thatRead More →

■ Natural Sciences / Siberian sink: do more measurements matter in determining global carbon dioxide flux? Using optimized data sets and incorporating more precise data points from the Japan-Russian Siberian Tall Tower Inland Observation Network for a better world picture. In the wake of the Paris Accords and growing international attention focused on climate change and associated science, accurate modelling of carbon dioxide fluxes are integral to research in a wide diversity of disciplines. In the recent article, “Impact of Siberian observations on the optimization of surface CO2 flux,” the authors examined mathematically optimized data sets that included observations from the Japan-Russian Siberian Tall TowerRead More →

■ Social Sciences & Business/ Ballot-box accountability impedes far-sighted policymaking Central government bureaucrats more effectively pursue unobservable and long-term targets. Some government policies target benefits that the public rarely see or that only materialize years later. According to a study conducted by Dr. Sounman Hong, Associate Professor at Yonsei University’s Department of Public Administration, such policies should be entrusted to the central government. “Where the goal is a short-term increase in public satisfaction or awareness, the local government should take charge,” explains Hong. “However, where improvements won’t be visible to the public or will take a long time to achieve, the central government will likelyRead More →

■ Humanities / It’s natural: Fractions are for counting, and decimals are for measuring Mental representations of numbers have roots that go beyond language and culture. Fractions and decimals are often thought of simply as alternative ways to represent the same quantity, and this is how they are typically introduced when taught to children. However, studies have shown that people conceive of an amount differently according to whether it is notated as a fraction or as a decimal and that they process the two notations differently. For example, when comparing two quantities to determine which one is larger, people are able to judge more quicklyRead More →

■ Humanities / Yonsei Professor Among World’s Top 10 Reformed Theologians Prof. Dr. Chung Meehyun recognized as one of the most influential theologians of the Reformed faith leading up to the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. Yonsei University United Graduate School of Theology Professor Dr. Chung Meehyun has been recognized as one of the world’s 10 most influential Reformed theologians since the Reformation of 1517. The selection was part of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) 26th General Council held in Leipzig, Germany from June 29 to July 7. In commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, WCRC chose 10 individuals who haveRead More →

■ Natural Sciences / Getting to know Virgo: a date with galactic evolutionary history Galaxy clusters are made up of many individual galaxies impacted by environmental conditions that can leave trace effects on those individuals. Seeing relative interactions in that context can help identify physical processes that result in specific types of galaxies. Research published online in The Astrophysical Journal in March 2017 In the continuing quest to understand the internal workings of our cosmos, Dr. Aeree Chung from Yonsei University with other researchers from around the world, attempted to create tools for projecting galaxy trajectories and star formations using only imaging of hydrogen gas.Read More →

■ Medicine / Survival mechanism of metastatic cancer cell revealed Providing a New metabolic treatment target to inhibit the recurrence and spread of cancer. For the first time, Dr. Jong In Yook (Yonsei University School of Dentistry), Dr. Hyun-Sil Kim (Yonsei University Oral Pathology Department), Dr. Nam-Hee Kim (Oral Cancer Research Institute), and Dr. Keum-Suk Hwang (Korea Basic Science Institute) have discovered the mechanism through which metastatic cancer cells survive and alter their metabolic pathways. According to the Korean cancer registry, about 1/3 of the total population dies of cancer, despite the rapid development of medical treatments. Cancer patients typically die of either recurrence orRead More →